Yukio Tsuchiya

So I was not expecting to be crying over elephants this morning but here I am.

Because of the mature subject matter please be sure before you read this book with your children. Picture books can be a good way to introduce hard things.

Much like Betty Doll by Patricia Pollacco I did not go into this knowing what was coming.

This tells the story of desperate choices with no good solutions.

For my family I rated this 13+.

Like Break-in Stalin's Nose, this story reminds of the horrors of war, but it focuses so much more on the individual impact on civilians and innocent people and animals. You can feel the anguish the zookeepers are feeling through the illustrations and the word choice and the format is a great conversation starter for middle schoolers talking about WWII. It is definitely not suitable for young children.

I think that this book is an amazing representation of the pain that people feel during wartime. Even though there is no historical documentation of this story actually happening, I think that this book can be very metaphorical to the pain of losing family and friends to war. Sometimes, that topic can be a little too dark for students so using this book instead can help not make it as heavy. A great book to use to start a discussion.

A beautiful story that really brings home the tragedies and consequences of war.